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On a peaceful 20-acre tract of land in Sealy, Texas, about an hour west of Houston, a few pioneering devotees have established The Bhagavata Academy Spiritual Retreat Center. It aims to create an immersive setting focused on transcendental education and spiritual nourishment, a kind of detox from the material world.

The Vision
The vision for the spiritual oasis came after years of contemplation and planning by one of its founders, Vatsala Dasa. He and his wife Shashikala Devi Dasi (along with t

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It was just a busy beehive at 1626 Pie IX Boulevard, the centre for Krishna Consciousness. The sun was shining, and the humidity was on. At the intersection of Sherbrooke and Ste. Laurent, The chariot, a handsome piece of craftsmanship built and owned by Abhay Charan, a local devotee, was all in spiffy decorum and ready to roll, and not rock, on Ste. Laurent.

First, coconuts were to be smashed on the streets, a ritual for purification. A priest from the platform of the chariot came down hard w

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By Atma Tattva Das

To unlock the spiritual potency of the rare month of Purusottama, the ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry (CDM) has launched an initiative to encourage and facilitate devotees worldwide to observe this auspicious period in the Vedic calendar. Purusottama Month, also known as Adhik Maas, is a sacred time that occurs approximately every three years and is highly cherished by Lord Krishna’s devotees.

The addition of the Purusottama Month to the Vedic calendar is predicate

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By Taravali Devi Dasi 

The Vaishnavas C.A.R.E. project continues to expand as a new chapter has formed at ISKCON Delaware, USA. In April 2023, two of the three Vaishnavis who started the local Delaware Vaishnavas C.A.R.E. team attended the official “Art of Caring for Vaishnavas” seminar that took place at ISKCON Philadelphia, presented by Sangita Devi Dasi. Bhaktins Jenna and Sherri were inspired by this much-needed service and formed a team with Bhaktin Staci to assist devotees during their ti

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We are entering the sacred month of Purusottama, which comes once every three years and is said to be three times more potent than Kartik. During this month, devotees increase their chanting and hearing, and in particular they read Chapter 15 of the Bhagavad-gita, “Purusottama-yoga,” daily.

In a previous age during the Purusottama Month, Kaundinya Muni repeatedly chanted the following mantra every day throughout the sacred Adhika Masa:

govardhana dharam vande
  gopalam gopa rupinam
gokulotsavam

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Our bus for the Krishna Culture Festival Tour is up for some repair, and while that's going on, business is as usual with morning sadhana, a spiritual workout. The local devotees are rather occupied with the Chariot Fest preparations. I am gleefully involved with our bus crew with kirtan and class.

The class was based on Canto 10 to do with the cruel King Kamsa Driving the chariot of his newly married sister and brother-in-law. He had just heard an ethereal voice that prophesized his death. He

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Two divisions of sastra-smarta and paramartha

The Vedic arya-sastras are divided into two sections - smarta (literature based on smrti) andparamartha (transcendental literature based onsruti). Those who are eligible (adhikari) for thesmarta section do not have any natural inclination or taste for the paramartha-sastras. The thoughts, principles, activities and life goal of every human is constituted according to his respectiveruci (inclination). Generally, smartas accept those scriptures which

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7940356293?profile=RESIZE_584xThe history of the extra (adhik) month of Purushottama, which occurs once in three years, is based upon a fascinating story from the Padma Purana. The eastern hemisphere of this planet follows a spiritual calendar based upon lunar calculations, wherein each year is divided into 12 months of 30 days each. Once, unexpectedly, an extra 13th lunar month appeared, & sought to be accommodated within the year. There was chaos! Human beings, including sages and demigods, refused to recognize this illegi
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Glories of Purushottama Month

7940463853?profile=RESIZE_584x Purushottama, the holy month, occurs once every three years - a period believed to be the most favourable for spiritual upliftment . It is also called mala masa (dirty month) by the performers of karma-kanda because they cannot get any material fruitive results from their worship during this month. Our acaryas elucidate that it is called mala masa because devotional activities performed in this month destroy the dirt and contamination caused by sins. 

It is called adhika (extra) masa because S
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By Achyuta Priya Dasa 

In this statement, we will summarize and report on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) activities in Ukraine during the almost one-and-a-half difficult and tragic years of the unexpected war that brought immeasurable suffering to the entire nation.

ISKCON in Ukraine is an ancient monotheistic religious tradition based on the Vedic scriptures and numbering tens of millions of followers in India and around the world. In 1965, the Society’s Founder-A

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Tough is sweet by Bhaktimarga Swami

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It was tough for a second night in the bus, and not due to intense night heat in sharing space with thirty other people. An additional AC unit was installed. It was the irregular driving from the detours on Hwy. 90 in New York that caused many turns on secondary roads that made the ride somewhat uncomfortable. We were heading north to Quebec where it is a bit cooler. Hoping those notorious fires from Canada were subsiding.

I'm relatively happy despite inconveniences. I have all these younger fo

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Wednesday morning, after clamoring aboard a United 747 Jet, I flew over the Pacific Ocean, crossed the international dateline, and landed in Tokyo, Japan at 2:30pm Thursday afternoon.

Ten minutes before our jet landed in Tokyo, our chief purser asked the passengers - who had been without sunlight for nearly eleven hours - to open their window shades.

The instant the passengers opened the shades we were treated to a most magnificent sight: the green earth below with all its majesty and variety.

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From Back to Godhead

Making sense of Vedic Rituals

Are traditional rituals mere acts of blind faith, or are there scientific reasons behind following them?

An envelope protects and carries something valuable. It is the inner content of the envelope that’s actually precious. Similarly empty, meaningless rituals are like an empty envelope: devoid of any substance at best or downright offensive at worst.

Going beyond the externals of religion

Twenty five year old Nitin Sawant, a software engineer,

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The Ultimate benefit – Sreya

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By Chirag Dangarwala

In many of Srila Prabhupada’s lectures he exclusively explains about the two topics  sreya and preya.  He explains that sreya means the ultimate benefit  and preya means immediate profit. Just like  children want to play all day long that is preya,  but the parents know that they must go to school and learn in order to become educated, which  in the long run will be beneficial for them, so that is sreya.

In Bhagavad Gita Lord Sri Krsna talks about sreya and preya in terms o

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By Atma Tattva Das

In a recent interview, Visnu Murti Das, the driving force behind Vanipedia, shared an inspiring vision for the online platform and the new BLS Vani-Village project in Radhadesh – Belgium. With a passionate call for dedicated devotees, talented writers, and researchers to assist the platform, Vanipedia is poised to become a beacon of knowledge and inspiration for followers of Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.

Vanipedia, an integral department of BLS, is a groundbreaking online pla

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By Khusboo Basan

The Bhaktivedanta Research Center (BRC) displayed priceless treasures from their library collection at the 52nd Kolkata Rath Yatra festival held June 20-28th. The Kolkata Rath Yatra is a grand chariot festival celebrated in West Bengal, India. The annual event is organized by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and welcomes thousands annually.

The booth highlighted the important aims of BRC to collect, preserve, exhibit, research, publish, and teach the

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Our bus pulled in from Washington into the ISKCON Brooklyn centre on Schermerhorne at 6:30 AM. A jump into the shower and a second jump into the street level temple room for conducting a Bhagavatam class was like a sudden splash into the water off the dock. Kichari, a mix of rice, dahl, and veggies, is becoming a constant at breakfast time. From energy giving to energy expending with a drama practice, our bus crew took to the New York subway to the Bhakti Center for darshan – a view of the Radh

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We may be surprised to learn that many things we consider as acts of spiritual advancement in Krishna consciousness, like tapasya or austerity, are actually acts of selfishness, and will impede our real growth. Even following the four regulative principles in certain ways, can divert us.

“So this austerity is called tapasya, denial, self-denial” (class on SB. 5.5.1 in Vrndavana, Oct 23, 1976). To give up certain forms of selfishness is required to progress in spiritual life, and this is usual

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The self has an unlimited capacity to sense, being sat-cit-ananda. These sensations are limited or defined by the body being inhabited. For example, the human body senses light energies across a spectrum that we interpret as red orange yellow green blue indigo violet. Above violet in energy, is ultraviolet, which is not detected by the human eye. Similarly, energies below this light spectrum include infra-red, which again is not visually sensed. Yet we know that these energies are there, becaus

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By Thomas Haribol

In June, ISKCON News reported on devotees returning to survey the ISKCON Kherson Temple in Ukraine, which was severely damaged during the ongoing conflict there. Bhakta Max, a native of Kherson, had moved back into the building to remove debris and begin the restoration process. Sadly, within weeks, on July 4th, a rocket struck the Temple, smashing all the windows and putting a massive hole in the roof of the building. Thankfully, no one was harmed in this latest strike.

Other

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